Vessel contrast enhancement in hyperspectral images

Abstract

Imaging of vessel structures can be useful for investigation of endothelial function, angiogenesis and hyper-vascularization. This can be challenging for hyperspectral tissue imaging due to photon scattering and absorption in other parts of the tissue. Real-time processing techniques for enhancement of vessel contrast in hyperspectral tissue images were investigated. Wavelet processing and an inverse diffusion model were employed, and compared to band ratio metrics and statistical methods. A multiscale vesselness filter was applied for further enhancement. The results show that vessel structures in hyperspectral images can be enhanced and characterized using a combination of statistical, numerical and more physics informed models.